Timpano or Timballo di Maccheroni, is a classic southern Italian dish made famous by the movie Big Night (1996, starring Stanly Tucci). This is a must see movie for anyone fond of Italian food and culture (watch highlights).

It also makes for wonderful entertainment if you're looking for a back drop for a "progressive" dinner party. One in which each of your guests brings some of the Timpano filling ingredients, making this fabulous dish a true group effort. This is a perfect way to spend time with friends and drink some wine while making this classic dish.

The Timpano, meaning "drum" in Italian, is not a common menu item in Italy, as it is more of a family made dish. I lived in Italy for over six years, and my first experience eating the Timpano was in the US. The Timpano is composed of a variety of savory ingredients baked within a golden dough. While many websites talk of the Timpano as a very time consuming recipe to make, turning your Timpano making into a "progressive" dinner party reduces the effort to prepare this fabulous dish. Making the Timpano together offers a great opportunity for a friendly get together to eat good food and drink wine.

I had a great time making this dish with my wife's cousin, Jere, last summer in Chicago. It was Jere's first time making a Timpano and it came out perfectly. Just follow the recipe below (and having the correct Timpano pot is an absolute must!). So enjoy your own "Big Night" with the wonderful Timpano, an alternative approach for your next dinner party.

First, make sure you have the all the filling ingredients prepared - this is the most work. You want everything prepared, cooked and cut and ready to go into the dough once you have it prepared (for the progressive Timpano dinner, make sure all your guests have arrived with their filling contribution before making the dough!). Once you have your dough rolled out, you don't have much time to fill the dish before the dough dries out.

Meatballs

Mix the ground beef, ground veal, eggs, and bread crumbs together, then mix in the garlic, parsley, and Parmigiano. Season with salt and pepper.

Roll the mixture into golf ball size balls. Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat and add enough olive oil to cover the bottom to about 1/4-inch. Add the meatballs and saute, rolling them around so they're cooked all-around. When they have a nice crust they're done.

Remove and drain the meatballs on paper towels.

Dough

Once you know you have the filling ingredients assembled, make the dough.

To make the dough, place the flour, eggs, salt, and olive oil in a mixer with a dough hook. (A large-capacity food processor may also be used.) Add 3 tablespoons of the water and process. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together and forms a ball. Turn the dough out on a lightly-floured work surface and knead to make sure it's well-mixed.

Set it aside to rest for 5 minutes. You must roll out the dough into a very large thin sheet - this is the most difficult part of making the timpano (See picture preparing Timpano Dough below). Flatten the dough out on a lightly-floured work surface. Use a large wash towel made from light flour sack material to roll the dough on. Then sprinkle it with flour and roll it from the center to the edges. It keeps springing back, so you really have to keep working it till it's about 1/16-inch thick.

Generously grease your pan with butter and olive oil. Fold the dough in half, then in half again so you have a triangle-shape. Place the corner of the dough into the bottom center of the pan and unfold it. With the back of your hand gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan, draping the extra dough over the sides. (See picture Timpano dough in Pot below).

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

If you cannot fill the pan right away, you can keep the dough moist by laying a large moist towel over the whole thing.

Fill the Timpano

All your ingredients should be at room temperature. Toss the drained pasta with the olive oil and 2 cups of the sauce. Distribute a layer of the pasta in the bottom (this will be the top when you're done) of the pan - approximately 3 cups. This layer should be about an inch deep. (See pictures Timpano filling below)

NOTE

If you make the layers too deep, you run the risk of running out of room. Everything needs to fit in the pan without "heaping" the ingredients, you're going to be flipping this over and you want it to sit flat on a platter.

Top the first layer of pasta with 1 cup of the salami (or sausage), 1 cup of Provolone, 6 of the hard-boiled eggs, 1 cup meatballs, and 1/3 cup of the Romano cheese. Pour 1/3 of the beaten eggs over this (they help bind everything together) and then 2 cups of the sauce over these ingredients.

Top with another layer of the pasta - about 3 cups or so. Top that with the remaining salami (or sausage), 1 cup Provolone, 6 hard-boiled eggs, remaining meatballs, and 1/3 cup Romano cheese. Pour 2 cups of the sauce over these ingredients. Top these ingredients with a final layer of pasta. You should be right about even with the edge of the pan, spoon about 2 more cups of sauce over all of this. Pour the remaining egg mixture over these ingredients.

If the ingredients are a bit higher than the pot, gently spread hands to press the ingredients down into the pan. You can also "vibrate" the pan to settle the ingredients as fill. You want a nice firm mass once you're done.

Fold the pasta dough over the filling to seal completely. Trim away and discard any double layers of dough.

Bake the Timpano
(read the entire baking section through, there are several different times associated with baking and getting the Timpano out of the pot without breaking)

- Bake in a 350 degree oven until lightly browned, about 1 hour.

- Then cover it with aluminum foil and continue baking until the timpano is cooked through and the dough is golden brown about 45 minutes. It should reach an internal temperature of 120 degrees.

- Remove from the oven and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Have an appropriate platter ready, set it upside-down over the timpano, grab the timpano and platter together and flip it over. (Do not take the pan off yet, let it rest like this for another 30 minutes.)

This resting is really important for two reasons:

As it cools it pulls away slightly from the pan. You've got a lot of surface area in contact with this pan, so you have to be really careful when getting the timpano to release once you flip it over.

Second, the timpano has a lot of hot liquid inside it. Melted cheese, pasta sauce, etc. Hopefully the beaten eggs have set and as the other ingredients rest they set up just a bit more too.

After 30 minutes with the pan on it, very gently remove the pan and let it cool another 20 minutes.

Using a long-sharp knife, cut a circle about 3 inches in diameter in the center of the timpano. Make sure to cut all the way to the bottom. Then slice the timpano like a pie into individual portions, leaving the center circle as a support for the remaining pieces.

Buon appetito!

Notes:

Key to making the Timpano correctly is the right pot. We used the red/white enamel pot which can be found at this link.

Special thanks to Jere Ann for such a wonderful timpano dinner and for inspiring this article!

Angelo a Penn State Grad, has had the great fortune of seeing the world with the US Army over the past 25 years. He currently lives in Rome, Italy where he spends the day contemplating making and eating food.